Okay first of all, I work at a venue downtown that holds weddings, wedding receptions (among other things) every weekend so CONGRATULATIONS! YAYY!! I know how fun and exciting planning a wedding is and everything about it.
Which is why I will never get married.
Kidding... kind of.
I can tell she is thinking all white and flowers and sugar and spice and everything nice because when talking about her style she remarked that, "I always have at least one dress in my collections and it's always my favorite piece. I think dresses are the best piece of clothing women can wear!"
... I should have asked her who was designing her wedding dress. Let me know!! And although thoughts of her wedding were undoubtedly a factor in this current like, her background in designs holds a big influence on her creations. She says, "where I went to school, the fashion was very conceptual, like wearable art pieces, so even though I make ready to wear fashion for the most part, I can't get away from that conceptual background."
She also takes a lot of style inspiration from history, especially the 40s and 50s, but still checks out contemporary photographers and indie designers. Her designs are also totally eco-friendly! Badass!
About he eco-wear, she says, "I'm out to prove that you can have unique, interesting, fun style without hurting the environment. The gold sheer cloth in the collection is 100% organic American grown cotton that I dyed with onion skin (don't worry it doesn't smell like it), and the rest is all organic too. Organic cotton is a small but growing industry in America, if we invested more money into it, and more people requested it, there would be a lot of new jobs created, not to mention the international demand for it that would raise our exports. Anyway, I could go on and on, but it's just something to think about next time you go shopping!" Yeah, chew on that one.
She was very specific when I asked her what got her into designing. "I knew at age 4 that I wanted to be an artist, and at age 7 that I wanted to do fashion design, " she answers. Must be nice to know exactly what you are going to be doing with your life at 7. Rub it in why don't you, Belinda. I still believe even at my 21 years of age that I couldn't possibly know what I want with my life. So don't ask.
Belinda however (showoff), got her start from her Gramma! She had given little Belinda a set of antique paper doll stencils that you could use to draw and cut out clothes for your paper doll. She says, "there were suggestions on how to color them in, but I went a bit crazy and started using the stencils to combine the clothes into new garments - that sleeve with that top and that skirt to make a dress. I didn't even care about the paper doll, I just wanted to design the clothing, and then I stopped using the stencils entirely. My parents encouraged it and got me drawing sets for fashion design and well, the rest is history." Seven year old Coco Chanel.
Well, the line Midsummer Night's Dream that all of you beutiful people will see TOMORROW at Blue Collar Crime in Raleigh, NC (tickets on sale at Nsalo and Dapper House) was inspired by Shakespeare's comedy by the same name. The style inspiration came from old Elizabethan clothing and shapes and contours similar to the early 1900's clothing. The fantastic colors (you'll have to check it out) and embellishments popped up from her imagination, but she admits that they were probably put there in part from the 1999 film version and Woody Allen's Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy. SO COME CHECK OUT HOW FANTASTIC IT WILL BE! Before the ticket sell out and you end up at home on a Friday night reciting Puck lines over a bag of popcorn wishing you were there. I can hear you now..
"If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended.
That you have but slumbered here
While these visions did appear..."
Nope, the show happened. And you're gonna miss it if you don't make moves quick ladies and gentlemen.
Much Love,
Mackenzie, D4L
